During World War II, a foul ball hit by a Marine traveled 15 miles!
The exact date is unknown and the location can only be guessed, but
the strangest of things happened to a foul ball hit by a Marine Corps
ballplayer in the Pacific during World War II.
In late 1944, 20-year-old Private First Class George E. Benson, Jr., a
former semi-pro catcher from Dawson, Iowa, was taking batting practice
with the First Marine Division regimental baseball team at Banika in the
Solomon Islands. Benson hit a foul ball in the air to the third base
side and at the exact same time, a Grasshopper liaison plane was coming
into land at the nearby airstrip. It was at an altitude of just 40 feet.
The baseball smashed through the windshield of the plane, hit the pilot
in the face and knocked him unconscious.
On board was 23-year-old Marine Corps machinist Corporal Robert J. Holm
from Iron River, Michigan, who had never flown a plane before. He
quickly pulled back on the dual controls to abort the landing and kept
the plane airborne while the pilot recovered. Once the pilot was able to
take over the controls he headed off to another airfield 15 miules away.
"Once I broke a high school window with a foul ball back in Dawson,"
Benson remarked later, "but I never thought this would happen to me."
Both men survived the war. George E. Benson, Jr., passed away in Dawson,
Iowa in December 2004, aged 80. Robert J. Holm passed away in July 1997,
aged 76. He is buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
George E. Benson, Jr., did not expect his foul ball to travel as far as
it did.
The quick thinking of Robert J. Holm saved his and the pilot's lives.
The grave of Coropral Robert J. Holm at Fort Snelling National Cemetery
in Minneapolis.
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